Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if people who restrict calories to the lower limit of what people say it healthy (1200ish) feel hungry and restricted--or if they feel satisfied. I go through phases and lately having a hard time later in the day. I'm trying to figure out--for my body--if I am restricting too much, or if I'm just having one of those times.

Either way, I'm curious how other people feel on 1200-1300 calories a day. Of course, the best comparison would be those of similar height/weight. I'm 5'6 and 158. I know everyone is different, but I'd love to hear opinions.

Does anyone feel like this puts them into a plateau because of the starvation mode theory?

Early on, yes I think I was nuts to eat 1200 calories and yes I felt starved. But once my body got used to it, no I haven't been hungry at all.

It's summer so I haven't been nearly as regimented. But when I was working (in the schools) I was very strict about eating 200 calories every 2.5 hours. I did not feel deprived at all and was not hungry. I feel like eating that way kept my metabolism raised because I was constantly feeding it.

I think starvation mode is way over stressed and dramatized. I think people should listen to their bodies. Nowadays I eat when I'm hungry. I listen to my internal monitors. There are days I exercise way too much for only 1200 calories and my body tells me that making me lethargic, not necessarily hungry. I get symptoms of low blood sugar too. When that happens I eat veggies, fruits or protein. But most of the time, 1200 calories works well for me.

I usually aim for 1200, but give myself up to 1600 if i feel starved.

I am 6'4"

I can stand 1200 for a few days and then something snaps and I have to eat a bit more.

1200 is not enough for me, I don't feel satisfied and it causes me to binge. I eat 1500 a day and that works great.

At 5'5, 140 lbs I have my good days and bad days. I aim for 1200-1300 too. Workdays with me sitting at my desk, I do feel hungry during the day usually around 1 or 2 after eating lunch around 11:30. I think it has a lot to do with the environment though. Weekends, I don't get hungry much because I keep myself busy, hardly thinking of food.

One day a week I usually eat around 1800-2000, with plenty of exercise that day. That may also help me too. Don't feel like I'm depriving myself constantly.

I eat 1600-1700 a day, and I am pretty steadily hungry on that--not starving, but never satisfied. But I exercise a great deal and am only 33.

Some days I'm still starving some days I'm pretty full, it just really depends on what I eat I guess and my body. On 1,300 I felt full pretty much all the time but I'm back down at 1,200 and have some full days and some hungry days.

I usually eat 1,100-1,500. I normally always feel pretty good with it. I also try to eat super healthy foods though. Whole wheats, veggies, proteins, fruits. I find unhealthy carbs to be addicting and make me hungrier for more when I have them, so I just avoid them. However sometimes I do slip up.

My aim is under 1,000 a day. But the amount of food I eat is insane. I load up on veggies! I have really learned to take out things that arent filling, like little 100 calorie packs. Thats 1/10th of my days alotted calories for 2 crackers? Id rather have tons of yummy vegetables, or 100 calorie popcorn, or chug some liquids to fill me.

I could never maintain a 1200 calorie diet. I feel like I am just a hungry person. I am taller... and I have been exercising a lot. I have been trying to stick to 1500 - 1600 and even that is a struggle. Every few days, I need to have a higher calorie day (1800 - 2000). I eat lots of veggies.

I can only go that low for a couple of days then I have to go a little higher to keep me from feeling too hungry at night.

when I was your size, 1200 would never work. Even if I was okay at that level for a day, week, month, etc, I eventually would go nuts from the over-restriction and eat a ton. It's actually the reason I gained 70 pounds back.

I think it depends on how you "spend" those 1200 calories too. Make sure you are getting good fat, proteins and fiber to sate you at each meal. When I am doing that, I am fine with 1200 but if I am spending my calories on crap, I am ravenous and need at least 1600. Also the first few days of reducing calories (and cutting carbs/sugar) make me feel like I am going to die (headaches and crazy hunger) but by day 4 I am fine. My problem lately is I can't make it past day one. Hence my 3 year plateau at 150!

I completely agree with this. As long as I balance my meals macronutrient wise and time wise, I usually feel relatively satisfied (except for the emotional issues and cravings associated with eating). But, it's a fine balance. I have to plan ahead to make sure my meals have protein in them and good carbs, and the timing is sometimes an issue.

When I'm able to space out my 3 meals a day and 2 snacks (usually 3 300ish meals and 2 100-200 snacks) without too much time between eating, I'm good. But, when something gets in the way--such as today, where I couldn't eat dinner until 8:30 so I needed to sneak in an extra snack to hold me over--I am almost forced to go over by a few hundred unless I want to skip dinner. This is rare, but it's frustrating when I'm in that situation.

Similar to a previous post, if I had a really tough workout day, I usually will add a couple hundred calories, which is needed to have some more energy for the rest of the day, and I definitely do not feel bad about it.

Re my question about plateaus, it seems like everyone has different experiences. For some reason, I'm afraid to move up to 1500 in case it lowers my weightloss. But, if I would lose about the same at 1500, oh I would love it. Maybe I'll give it a try if I get to another plateau. While I am relatively satisfied on 1200/day, I do feel like I'm restricting and sometimes crunching calorie numbers to make it work. So, I would be sad if I would be more successful (and satisfied) on 1500 or something!

Sorry for the rambling. I really enjoy reading everyone's experiences and learn a lot from it!